The Christie Charity
Simona Gaito, James Price and Shermaine Pan are clinical fellows, currently working in proton beam therapy. Simona is a young oncology clinical fellow and both James and Shermaine are proton clinical fellows.
We all share a passion for oncology, particularly radiotherapy in curing and controlling cancer, and love being a part of our patient’s journey through proton therapy, whether that is meeting patients for the first time at the initial assessment visit, or as part of the clinical team contouring the areas to treat, or problem solving when side effects begin to surface. Nothing is ever too difficult or too much trouble for us – and we will do it with a smile too!
As clinical fellows, we are still learning and understanding the trade of proton therapy, and although a steep learning curve, it has been a great one, being able to learn first-hand from expert clinicians in the centre. Protons are of course just another form of radiation but it has its quirks, and we are definitely beginning to be familiar with them.
Our curious minds begin exploring when we have opportunities to explore areas which are less clear and research further into them. Being part of pioneering work is always exciting and ultimately we know that the work behind the computer screens that we do benefit our patients, which makes it all worthwhile.